The Tennis Team Takeoff!

Pahrump Valley High School has many clubs and teams, and this year tennis club turned into a team. The PVHS Tennis Team is coached by David Yost, a 6th grade Social Studies teacher at Rosemary Clarke Middle School. Since tennis is a new team, all the members are new to it and there is only one former club member.

There are many players but currently 3 members that have played  in games. During their daily practices, members learn how to play and have a great time. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses according to sophomore tennis player Megan Byers. “As long as we all play our best and have fun, it doesn’t matter who wins in my book,” she says.

The tennis team has multiple games scheduled- 4 home games and 3 away games. The problem is in order for a match win to count, a total of 6 girls are required and we only have 3 girls and no boys. Sadly, if you look on the school website, tennis doesn’t show up as a school team.

The captain of the tennis team is Sophomore Veronica DelaRosa, who is the only former member of the Tennis Club left.  “I enjoy being leader, though sometimes the pressure stresses me, especially when I’m the last one playing sets, and my teammates decide to encourage me by saying ‘All the pressure is on you, Veronica!’ and  ‘You better win!’”

The tennis team currently has no male players that can actually play, due to grades, injuries, and other issues. The tennis team needs more male players to join and participate in the games as Ashley Bishop, a senior said. So, if you’re a male and want to play a sport, tennis may be the sport for you!

According to NCAA.org, a website about college athletics, 4.7% of women who play tennis in high school go on to play in college. That’s more than basketball, volleyball, and cross country for girls. For guys, 5% of high school players go on to play in college. That’s more than wrestling, water polo, volleyball, track and field, and basketball.  Both University of Nevada, Reno and University of Nevada, Las Vegas have men and women’s tennis teams with scholarship awards.

There are many national scholarships and college scholarships for tennis players according to Collegescholarships.org. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs,  gives away $500 million dollars a year in student athlete funding per year for all sports including tennis.

Hopefully, the PVHS tennis team can continue to get members and represent PVHS with their good sportsmanship and love of the game.